Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Good advice The Price Is Always Right: What's Worth Buying Only the Best?
Posted by Nicki Wood on Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 1:00 PM
Heard the joke about Things You Want to Pay Full Price for? I never remember jokes, so don't ask me, but the punchline involves surgery and seafood.
Because, really, what would be involved in discount surgery?
Everyone is rethinking food bills, but presumably for every household, there's an item for which it is willing to pay full price for. At our house, the list includes seafood, canned clams, coffee, and roast peanuts because the non-premium version of each isn't something to look forward to.
Moving into the larger neighborhood, one neighbor insists on fresh bread—they want it soft and fresh, so no day-old bread. And they don't buy it on sale and freeze it. Another insists on Heinz ketchup, price be darned, because the kids won't tolerate other brands.
In these tight economic times, what foods are you unwilling to compromise on?
Comments (15)
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I totally agree--some stuff is not worth compromising on. I still buy almond butter, even though it is several times more expensive than peanut butter. My husband is from Pittsburgh, and he'd die if I bought anything but Heinz.
If I ever truly have to tighten my belt, though... all bets are off.
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The only two that come to mind right now are organic milk and the best organic, free-range eggs I can find.
If meat is too expensive (and it often is), I just skip it. No need for the cheap stuff.
One of the fun things is learning the source for your local store's private label versions and buying those when it matches your normal prefernce. For example, if Kroger's ketchup is Heinz-provided, why pay for the other label? When in doubt, a blind test is sometimes in order, as every manufacturer will swear that their 'real' brand is always better. However, having managed some manufacturing efforts in another life, I can tell you it ain't always so.
I can honestly say, however, that does not apply to beer. Or private label sake in a box. Not worth it.
as for what won't work for me, this rule I live by, learned the hard way by my life-lesson teachers:
never buy formerly frozen shrimp from a guy in a parking lot, no matter how tempting the price.
Economics are one thing. Living is another. Life is too short to drink crappy beer(Yazoo, Sierra Nevada, Fort Colins). But, life is too precarious to eat pesticide and GMO laden produce: eat organic, grow your own vegetables, learn to bake, become more self sufficient. Enough of this 'give me convenience or give me death'. I'm sure the majority of you are way younger than myself with lots of, uhmm, kids. The example you can set in their eyes by being capable, creative and skilled is far more valuable than shipping them off to soccer camp. They will grow up smarter, healthier, and with a set of life skills most people 30 years their senior have not yet grasped.
And, yes, Yazoo offers an organic beer if there are any concerns with GMO ingredients.
So, Dippin', are you saying it has to be McDougal's, and they're more expensive and better?
If we all switched to Organic, half the world would starve.
Man has been genetically modifying food in one form or another for thousands of years.
Neo-Luddites ftl.
Compelling arguments have been made that organic farming raises food production per parcel of land, not lowers it. But it's a moot point: there's not even remotely a danger of the entire world "switching to Organic," either in supply or demand. If we all decided to stomp-dance in perfect unison, we'd topple skyscrapers. But it ain't gonna happen.
@ fluffernutter
I don't really understand your response. I do like McDougal's because they have better chicken than other chicken shacks, and the sauces add depth to the menu. Chicken shacks with 1 sauce are usually good, but limited in my book. A trip to McDougal's can warrant a few seperate flavors from the same dish. Hence, the replay value is very high. Oh, and they serve good (cold) beer and have a kickin' deck at each location. If I lost my job, I'd still visit the shack. It's just that good.
I hope to hit the Yazoo bash. Been going to the taproom before it was open to the public (just by a few days). When I worked for Red Bull we stumbled across it while exploring one day, they were still painting the taproom. Word is there is a 5 year brew going to be served at the gathering.
Always Hungry, I'm curious about the eggs-- what is inferior about non-premium eggs? We don't eat eggs: we cook with them instead. So maybe the subtleties of fine-quality eggs is wasted on us. Discuss.
The absolutely best Italian espresso coffee, roasted by elves in the Piemontesi mountains
Spanish Olive oil hand-pressed by windmill giants from La Mancha
And Venezuelan chocolate from Chuao, the closest thing to Nirvana on earth
